


Trans!Nico Ficlets

by IShipThem



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M, Non-binary character, Trans Male Character, Warning for brief mentions of transphobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-02
Updated: 2015-05-23
Packaged: 2018-03-05 00:48:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3098765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IShipThem/pseuds/IShipThem
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ficlets I wrote for my bestie Dipper, featuring:</p><p>"TransBoy!Nico getting ready for a date with Percy. The girls come in mass to help him out."</p><p>"NB!Nico is stuck on a cave for the next two days and they'll NOT put up with Jason's and Percy's bickering."</p><p>"TransBoy!Nico, who's still figuring things out, meets a trans god that is A) Apparently really into him, B) Too hot for his sanity and C) Weirdly insightful about one Percy Jackson."</p><p>And tons of fluff.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. No Cis Guy Is Seeing Me Naked

Nico _had_ thought he’d been strangely calm about the whole thing. Approaching the subject with Percy had been almost too easy. Making plans had been embarrassing, but otherwise no big problems had presented themselves. All had sailed smoothly.

Honestly. It was about time he started freaking out.

“I,” he told Bianca and Hazel gravely. “Simply cannot do it.”

Then he marched back into the bathroom.

 _“Nico!”_ Bianca moaned, following him inside with quick strides. “C’mon, little brother, you know it’s just nerves!”

 _“Just_ nerves!” he shrieked, coming up to the door with his towel wrapped tightly around his chest. Bianca had to halt before she ran over him. “Easy for _you_ to say, Miss Celibacy!”

Her cheeks went red with embarrassment. “Well, all right, maybe I don’t have _life experience,”_ she said primly. “But I—Well, I—Annabeth!” She whirled around and pointed at the girl decidedly. “ _You’ve_ had sex! Tell him it’s just nerves!”

From her spot on the mattress next to Annabeth, Thalia groaned and hid her face in a pillow. She hadn’t been planned company for the pre-date get together. Nico suspected Bianca had blackmailed her into coming, and that she was now busy regretting her life choices.

Annabeth raised her eyes from her laptop, over her brand new reading glasses. She made Nico question his sexuality sometimes. Or maybe he just had a glasses fetish. “It’s just nerves, Nico,” she said, in an even, bookish voice.

Nico groaned and stomped back into the bathroom.

“I think that wasn’t very convincing,” Hazel said gently, handing Annabeth the jeans she’d been holding. “Nico! Come on out so we can talk about this.”

“No.” the boy replied, as dry as a burning twig. “I won’t. I’m _never_ letting Percy see me naked. _Ever._ I don’t know what the hell I was thinking. I’ve managed to avoid that for six months of relationship, and I’m _not_ giving up now.” He hitched the towel up higher, leaning forward and protecting his chest with his arms. “ _Ever,”_ he repeated, in a whisper.

Bianca looked at Annabeth. Annabeth glanced at Hazel. Hazel took the lead.

“Nico,” she called, softly sliding next to him on the bathtub’s edge. “Why are you scared of Percy seeing you naked?”

“I’m not scared,” he said, looking up at Bianca and Annabeth by the door. They gave him a look. “I’m _not,_ ” he insisted. “I don’t need a reason for not wanting to be seen naked.”

“No,” Annabeth agreed, leaning a hip on the door frame. “But do you have one?”

Nico blushed, pulling his knees to his chest, and gave them a shy look under his eyelids. “I’m…” He ducked his head. “It’s just… I _never_ get naked in front of guys. Cis guys, that is. In _years.”_

Annabeth and Hazel looked at Bianca, as if for confirmation. She shrugged neutrally. It made sense to her, but she wasn’t going about questioning her brother’s gym locker habits.

“Well,” Hazel began, taping idly at the door. “But Percy is not _just_ a cis guy. He’s… your… cis guy?” she finished, doubtingly looking at the girls for support. Annabeth had to bit her lips. Hazel slapped her arm with half-hearted strength. “Don’t laugh!”

“I’m not!” Annabeth said, smiling fondly at Hazel and reaching out to touch her elbow. “You’ve got a point.”

“What if he doesn’t think I’m attractive?” Nico insisted, but that caused the general room to snort.

“Oh, he thinks you’re attractive all right,” Annabeth said, rolling her eyes with exasperated fondness. “The number of times I caught him staring at your ass.”

“Lots,” Bianca supplied helpfully.

“Tons,” Hazel added, with a serious, grave nod.

“It’s _embarrassing!”_ Thalia called out from the bed.

Nico gave a small smile, his bouncing nerves calming down enough to allow for clearer thought. He suspected the butterflies in his stomach might’ve grown teeth.

“You’ve got nothing to worry about, Nico,” Bianca said, catching him by the shoulders and gently steering him out of the bathroom. “You have it all talked about, and it’s not like Percy doesn’t know what to do! Annabeth taught him stuff.”

“And I taught him _well,”_ the girl stressed, with a tiny smug grin. Thalia groaned.

“Why did you all drag me into this? I’m celibate!” she cried, looking up at the heavens. “And that’s for a reason! Cause sex is gross!”

“Tone it _down_ , Thalia,” Bianca said, tossing a shirt at her head. “We are here for moral support.”

“And fashion advice,” Hazel added, picking up Nico’s binders and raising them so everyone could see it. “Black or white?”

“White,” Annabeth said immediately, raising her laptop when a disgruntled Thalia face-planted into her lap. “For sure.”

“But the black one is newer,” Nico protested, unsurely. Bianca shook her head.

“It’s hot as Hephaestus’ forges out there,” she said, taking the white binder and offering it to her brother. “You’ll get heatstroke if you use the black one.”

Annabeth nodded sagely.

“Blue shirt,” Hazel added, fishing it from Nico’s wardrobe and passing it to him firmly. “Percy likes it when you wear blue.”

“He does?” Nico asked with surprise, sending the girls into giggling fits.

“You hadn’t _noticed?”_ Thalia asked, emerging from Annabeth’s lap with a cheek smashed to the girl’s knee. “He gets that whole… _male_ thing…” She waved her hand in the air scornfully. “About you wearing his colors or whatever. Every time you wear blue or green he starts _drooling._ It’s so glaring.”

Annabeth smirked knowingly. She raised her head, and looked all of them dead in the eyes, building up tension. Then, enunciating each syllable like a song, she declared: “Beach day.”

The room erupted in loud laughter.

 “Right!” Bianca cried, laughing so hard she was crying. “When he wore Percy’s shirt.”

“I thought he was gonna break his jaw,” Hazel said, hiding her laughter behind her hands. She was one to talk, considering she was wearing Leo’s shirt. Possibly Frank’s shorts.

 _“Oh,”_ Nico echoed, cheeks turning a bright pink. He looked away thoughtfully, his eyes fixing on a memory. “So _that’s_ what that was all about.”

An abrupt silence crash-landed on the room.

“What was _what_ all about?” Bianca asked, with a devilish smile. Nico’s face boiled so abruptly steam came out of his ears.

“Nothing!” he squeaked, dashing back inside the bathroom to change. Annabeth called out after him:

“I can guess what ‘that’ was!” And sent the girls into another giggling fit.

“You are all the _worst!”_ Nico said, coming out with a red face. He smoothed his shirt anxiously. “Do I look good?”

Hazel reached out for him, taking his hands and squeezing them. “You look great, Nico,” she assured softly. “His head will spin.”

“And just remember,” Bianca added somberly. “You can tell him to stop at any time.”

“ _Any_ time!” Thalia stressed, shaking a determined finger at him.

Nico smiled at them, his heart doing the tipty-tapt, and reached out to hug Hazel. “Thank you, sis.” He took a deep breath. “Really.”

Hazel was about to answer him, but someone began knocking loudly on the door. “Are you all decent?” Piper called impishly. “Can I come in?”

“Is he here already?!” Nico squeaked, fretting about in place like a trapped bird. “Oh my gods, where’s my wallet? Has anyone seen my wallet?”

“ _Calm down,_ Di Angelo,” Thalia said, waving the wallet right under his nose. “You left it on the bed.”

“Come in!” Hazel called to the person at the door.

“Well, Percy’s clothed and delivered,” Piper declared, marching in and promptly perching on Annabeth’s lap. “My job keeping fish boy from freaking is done. Tell me again why I got saddled with Percy.”

Annabeth smiled, wrapping one arm around Piper. “We can’t trust Thalia, Bianca and Hazel are bound to Nico by sisterly honor, and Reyna alone would’ve killed him.”

“Why didn’t _you_ do it?” Piper asked good-naturedly, pecking her in the lips. “Sending your girlfriends to do your dirty work. Reyna and I should just run away together into the sunset.”

Annabeth rolled her eyes. “Percy gets embarrassed when I try to give him relationship advice.”

“You’re his ex-girlfriend!” Hazel said, wrestling Nico into a sitting position to put on his shoes. “It _is_ embarrassing.”

“I’m his best friend!” Annabeth disagreed hotly. “Plus, Nico doesn’t mind.”

 _“Nico_ has got to get going,” Bianca intervened firmly, shooing him towards the door. “Everyone say good luck!”

“Good luck!” the girl chorused cheerfully. Nico caught a last glimpse of them waving and shouting encouragements before Hazel kissed him in the cheek and shut the door at his back.

Oh, dear gods.

Taking a few great gulps of air, Nico began going down the stairs. His heart was trumpeting away at his chest, but he’d long ago learned to tell eager anxious from dread anxious. This was eager anxious all around.

Percy was waiting for him downstairs, hands in his pockets, swaying back and forth on his heels. He looked jittery. Like he was nervous, too.

That made Nico feel unspeakably calmer.

“Waiting for me?” he called, trying for light-hearted teasing. It might have come out a little breathy.

Percy turned around, that big smile of his already blooming on his face, but froze halfway through. Months back, Nico would’ve immediately freaked, wondering what was wrong. Now, he knew Percy well enough to recognize that stare. Oh, gods.

“Movie first!” he told him, firmly, making Percy smile cheekily. He reached out for Nico, pulling him into a greeting kiss.

“Hi,” he said, putting their foreheads together. “You look great.”

Nico blushed, his hands resting on Percy’s waist, and smiled breathlessly. “You too,” he sighed, a bit giddy. “You got the tickets?”

“Two for Pacific Rim,” Percy agreed, wrapping one arm around Nico’s shoulders and smiling his stupid, dazzling, movie star smile. “For the sixth time.”

Nico groaned with embarrassment, pressing his face against Percy’s shoulder and slipping one hand into his back pocket. “I _told you_ we could go see something else.”

“And miss the cute faces you make every time Pentercost is onscreen? No way!” He kissed Nico’s forehead, the two of them walking to the subway glued to each other despite the heat. “I love them.”

“I don’t make _cute faces_ at Pentercost!” Nico protested, and they spent the whole walk to the movies bickering at each other light-heartedly.

Things were pretty much perfect until half-way through the movie. Nico’s nerves had stopped screaming, and where now down to a pleasant hum. Percy had never stopped touching him for a second, which honestly meant the only thing keeping him from jumping his bones was Mako Mori being awesome in the big screen.

Until he noticed the guys a couple sits over staring.

At first, he told himself he was imagining it. Then, he found himself wishing they had a problem with two boys on a date.

But Nico was just too used to that particular brand of staring.

He fidgeted, pressing closer to Percy’s side and shrinking in on himself under his arm. He tried to pay attention to the movie, but he could _feel_ their guessing, hot like a bonfire in his skin. Gods, he hated this. He hated this, he hated it, he hated…

“FUCK!”

Nico jumped, his head swinging fast to the side. The guys’ sodas had exploded all over them, and by the looks of it, gotten right into their eyes and up their noses. They kept trying to swab at it with their napkins, but nothing got absorbed: their eyelids had gotten so sticky they could barely open their eyes.

“That’s sure odd,” Percy said, nonchalantly munching on their shared popcorn. Nico poked him on the side.

“What am I gonna do with you?” he replied, unable to hold back his smile. Percy grinned.

“I have two answers for that, and, frankly, I can’t decide which one I prefer,” he said, snuggling Nico closer. The boy threw his legs over his lap cozily. “I could tell you ‘Turn me into a nice rug’…” Nico began laughing, pressing his face against his chest. “Or…”

Percy shifted, leaning so he could whisper in his ear, voice dropping to a seductive whisper. “That you can do anything you want with me.”

Nico’s blood boiled like a kettle.

Oh, good.

Now he was _never_ gonna be able to watch the movie.

“Percy?” he whispered back, grabbing his hand very, very tight.

“Yeah?” Percy replied, still in that _nice_ voice.

“Let’s get out of here.”

The minute they stepped out of the room, they were both suddenly overtaken by a giggling fit. Nico felt like a complete _teenager_ , dashing after his boyfriend with their hands linked, stopping every few feet to make out because they were just _that_ desperate. They were gonna get arrested at this pace. He didn’t really care.

Stumbling up Percy’s stairs was nothing short of a miracle, cause they couldn’t stop kissing for long enough to watch the way. The moment the front door finally slammed, Nico was just about ready to _tear Percy’s clothes off._

They tumbled into the couch, fitting against each other – Percy falling between Nico’s leg as if he’d been there for a lifetime. “Oh, wow,” Nico panted, when his boyfriend’s lips moved to his neck, digging his fingers in his hair. “That’s— _Percy, oh gods—_ that’s… just _don’t_ stop doing that.”

Percy chuckled, shifting so he could bear his own weight, and put his hands on the boy’s hips. “All right,” he said, sweetly, making small circles with his thumbs. “Remember to tell me if I’m doing _anything_ you don’t like. Okay?”

Nico’s heart squeezed into his throat, and he nodded, squirming under him. “You too,” he replied, shyly reaching for Percy’s shirt. He held it tight, breath picking up, and looked at his boyfriend’s face. “Can I?”

Percy nodded, sitting up more so Nico could pull it up. He was _never_ getting tired of seeing him shirtless. Ever.

“Percy?” he called, softly, letting the boy’s t-shirt fall to the floor. “You… you might want to let me get out of my binder. It’s, it’s a bit of tight fit.”

Nico’s heart was picking up again, this time with the first, tiniest hint of dread anxious. Percy’s eyes were gentle, as were his hands when he reached out to cup his face. Melting into him was so easy, Nico’s mind went completely blank for whole minutes when they kissed. It was exhilarating.

“Do you want to keep your shirt on?” Percy asked, sweetly, his lips still lingering above Nico’s. “I mean. I think keeping your binder might give you heatstroke, but you can keep the t-shirt.”

Nico looked at him, feeling his chest go so tight he thought he’d might choke from it. How did Percy even read his mind like that? He seemed to pick on Nico’s thoughts before he’d even _had_ them.

“I…” he managed, gulping through wet eyes. “I think I would prefer that. Yeah.”

Percy smiled, kissing his cheek affectionately. “All right,” he said, easily, as if it was just that simple.

“All right,” Nico agreed, and he thought, so happy he felt faint, maybe it really _was_ that simple.


	2. Playing Nice

“Anyway, I guess what I’m saying,” Nico went on, waving their meat around like a conductor’s wand. “Is that ‘ _they’_ is all right, but it kind of feels – I don’t know – kind of too bland?” They stopped talking to take a bite out of their impromptu kebab. “Like, you can use ‘they’ to refer to cis people, right, when you’re not sure if they’re a girl or a boy? So, it doesn’t, I mean, I just don’t feel like it translates what I’m trying to say.” They swallowed, licking his lips. “You get what I mean?”

Jason smiled at his friend, taking more careful bites of his food, and nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “I can see what you’re getting at.”

Nico made an agreeing noise with their mouth still full. They licked their lips again. “So I went online,” they said, “and I found a list of pronouns that’s, like, three pages long. I think some of them were just a joke,” they added, gesticulating again and nearly poking Jason in the eye. “But not _mean_ jokes, you know, it was more like inside jokes. Positivity stuff.”

“Sure,” Jason agreed easily, adjusting when Nico threw a leg over his. “Did you find anything interesting in there?”

“ _Hmm_ ,” Nico replied, around the last of their kebab, struggling to swallow a too-big bite. “Not exactly. I just, I thought it was cool, you know? That I had so many options. I didn’t think I had.”

Jason tipped his head, maybe just an excuse to catch Nico’s scent, the shampoo he’d casually bought them not even a week ago. “You have _lots_ of options,” he said emphatically. Nico lifted their head to beam at him. “Can you show me that list of pronouns later?”

“Sure!” they agreed, ecstatic, eyes dancing. “You can help me pick out the cool ones. I think ‘ze’ is the most common, but to me it sounds like you’re saying ‘she’ with a really thick German accent.”

Jason laughed at that, making Nico open a pleased, sly little smile. The moonlight caught on their eyelashes, making them seem even thicker than usual. He had to resist the urge to run his thumb over them.

“ _Excuse me,”_ Percy called angrily. “But some of us are trying to get some sleep.”

Jason and Nico turned around, glancing at a disgruntled Percy emerging from his sleeping bag. Nico twisted an eyebrow in his direction. What’d gotten _into_ him?

Jaosn seemed to be equally disgruntled: he rolled his eyes to the ceiling. “We’ll keep it down, Percy,” he replied, not bothering to keep the irritation from his voice. Nico twisted an eyebrow at him, too. The hell?

Percy didn’t engage, choosing instead to turn in his bag so he was facing the wall, and make it very passive-aggressive while he was at it. Nico stared at his back. They had no idea what was going on, but Jason and Percy had been chaffing this whole stake-out. It was supposed to be a simple quest: collecting a series of magical items retrieved by the girls, who were to meet them there in about two days, so the six of them could escort it back to Camp. They suspected all of this had more to do with Piper, Annabeth, and Reyna, wanting to be alone, then it had to do with the magical items. But no problem, right? Surely they could manage holing up for four days with their two best friends.

If two best friends hadn’t decided to suddenly start fighting.

“All right,” they said, slowly, leaning forward away from Jason. “You guys fess up. What’s going on?”

Percy’s head poked above the covers. “Nothing’s going on,” he said, which make Jason grumble loudly. “ _What?”_

“Nothing,” Jason replied, and that made _Nico_ grumble loudly.

“Oh my _God,_ you are terrible liars!” they said, getting up and grabbing Jason’s arm. “That’s _enough_. We are _not_ gonna stay stuffed in a cave for two days with you two being jerks to one another over my head. _You!_ Get up.”

Percy stared grumpily at Nico, but he had no hopes of winning on a staring match. Slowly, unwillingly, he got up from his sleeping bag, and stood there with his arms crossed. Nico positioned themselves between the boys. And glared.

“Okay,” they said, putting their hands to their hips. “Why are the two of you fighting?”

Percy and Jason were very decidedly _not_ looking at them. “We’re not fighting,” Jason replied, staring at the ceiling. Nico dug their fingers hard on their hips, to keep from covering their mouth with their shirt and screaming. That shirt was brand new and very cute. Also they had packed too little girl day clothes.

“You aren’t fighting?” they repeated, fixing each at a turn. “ _Really?_ What about last week, then?”

“What about last week?” Percy replied, looking at his shoes. Nico narrowed their eyes.

“You,” they said, stabbing a finger at his direction. “Took me shopping. Then, when we got back, _you,_ ” Nico pointed at Jason, “got all prissy about it and started hammering Percy about not inviting you instead of just telling me you were upset, like a grown ass person.”

Jason mumbled something, which was quite clearly not meant for Nico to hear, but they caught up on it anyway. “And you’re still wearing that shirt.”

Nico’s ears went bright red. “ _Excuse me,”_ they said, voice shrilling like a boiling kettle. “Do you have a _problem_ with my wardrobe?”

Jason’s neck made a snapping noise, as he finally looked down at Nico, eyes huge. “What? _No!”_

“Really?” Nico challenged coldly. “So you weren’t pissed that he bought me a couple skirts?”

“It wasn’t that!” Percy hurried to say when Jason fumbled spectacularly with his words. “That wasn’t the problem at all!”

“Oh! So there _was_ a problem!” Nico exclaimed, triumphant. Jason and Percy hissed as one. “I _knew_ it! You’ve been fighting about something!”

The boys looked at one another uneasily, all hunched shoulders and awkward shifting from foot-to-foot. Nico glared some more. They ignored it some more. _“Well?”_

“We aren’t… fighting exactly,” Percy finally answered, with a sideways glance at Jason. Who nodded.

“What’s with the avoidance game, then?” Nico demanded. “Percy takes me shopping. Then only Jason can go to the music festival. Percy gives me a ride to the support group. Next day only Jason shows up to lunch!” They threw their hands up in anger. “What’s this shit? Shared custody?!”

“That sounds so wrong,” Jason muttered under his breath. Percy nodded with a disgusted shiver. Nico stared at them, jaw dropping, past unbelieving and right into fucking murder.

“You two are acting like _buffoons!”_ they exclaimed, ears still bright red, feeling one second away from grabbing their shirts and _shaking._ “Can’t you two children be in the same place together anymore?! What am I gonna have to do, keep tabs on how many times a week I go out with—with—”

They let the phrase die out, realization dawning in their eyes just as it dawned on Jason’s and Percy’s. There was a long moment of incredulous staring and incongruent noises and Percy going purple and Jason fidgeting, and then Nico sucked in a gulf of shocked air. “You’ve been taking me out on _dates?”_ they screamed.

Jason and Percy looked at each other. “You make it sound like it’s a bad thing,” Percy said, making it sound more like a question. Nico gasped of outrage.

“You didn’t _tell me!”_ they accused. “You can’t take people out on dates without _ASKING THEM OUT!”_

“Weren’t exactly _dates—”_

“I’m _still talking!”_ Nico interrupted, shooting Jason with a death glare. “Is this what you two have been _fussing_ about?! You’ve been fighting for _me?!”_

The boys looked at each other again. “Is this a metaphorical question or—”

 _“It’s not a metaphorical question!”_ Nico shrilled, making Jason and Percy jump five feet into the air. “I can’t _believe_ the cheek of you two! _Men!_ ” Angrily, they reached out and snapped their fingers right in their ears. “What were you _thinking?”_

“OUCH!” they complained, all at once. “What was _that_ for?” Percy demanded.

“Didn’t it _occur_ to you, _knuckleheads_ , that you could just go and _ask me?”_ they hissed, eyes narrowed. “Just, walk up to your damn best friend, and go, ‘Hey, Nico, is there any chances you would like to go out with me?’”

“We didn’t want to make you _choose,”_ Jason replied, cradling the back of his head. “I mean, not right off the bat.”

“Yeah, man– _sorry._ I mean, _yeah,_ ” Percy agreed, using his patented puppy face, which definitely did _not_ work on them. “What with you being in the middle of transitioning and stuff. We were just trying to be supportive.”

Jason nodded emphatically. “We know you hate when we get _competitive—”_

“Oh, so you decided that the best way not to kill one another over me was to _avoid_ one another altogether?” Nico demanded, eyebrows shooting up their forehead. “I can’t _believe_ this. The other option didn’t even occur to you, did it?”

Jason and Percy looked equally baffled over that. “What other option?” Jason asked, confused.

Nico crossed their arms. “You two are interested on me. Did I get that right?”

The boys’ face where more than answer enough. Nico had to ignore the pleasant butterflies that sprung to life in their belly. “Okay,” they said, tilting their head just to see their eyes following the motion. “You ever considered I’m not the _only_ one you two are interested on?”

They could tell immediately that Percy _did not get it_ , but that Jason very much did. His neck almost snapped as he whipped around to stare at the other boy with huge eyes. Nico smiled coyly.

“Oh, you _thought_ of that, did you?” they purred, reaching out and tracing a lazy finger down Jason’s arm. “I guessed as much.”

Jason shot them a nasty stare, but that only made Nico smile candidly. Percy seemed confused. Little bit scared. “Uh… so, hey… what’s going on here… exactly…?”

Jason whipped around to face Nico. _“Don’t_ you tell him,” He told them, dead serious. “I mean it. Don’t you dare.”

“All right,” Nico agreed easily, staring up at their friend with a challenge. “But maybe _you_ should.”

“Oh, _c’mon!”_

 _“What?_ It’s a better solution thank taking _turns_ with dating me!”

“ _What_ is?” Percy demanded, raising his voice to be heard, and yet being ignored.

“It was _nothing_ , all right?” Jason said, addressing Nico alone. “I mean—he’s my _friend_ —”

 _“I’m_ your friend,” Nico shot back, with a victorious quirk of their lips. Jason buried his face in his hands. “And you two are completely hopeless. I know I’m not the most perceptive person ever, but I hang out with the girls a lot.” They turned to Percy: “And Annabeth swore to me she catches you ogling Jason _all the time.”_

Jason looked up immediately. “You _do?”_

“I _don’t!”_ Percy protested, but his flustered face and squeaky voice suggested otherwise. He fumbled for words. “What—what about you?! What’s all this talk about you _thinking_ of—of—of stuff?!”

“I don’t think about _stuff!”_ Jason replied, sending Nico into a fit of giggling. “ _Seriously?”_

 “Yes, seriously,” they said, not a shred of embarrassment in their face. “We could’ve gotten to this point much earlier if you two hadn’t been skulking about, trying to _date me in secret.”_

Percy moaned in frustration. “I’m _confused_ ,” he complained. “What does me ogling Jason or Jason thinking stuff has anything to do with— _we weren’t trying to date you in secret!”_

Nico tilted their head, sending Percy a thoughtful look that had him squirming in place. He swore he’d go to the Isles of the Best before he figured out what went on in that one’s mind. He and Jason had tried. They had spent weeks trying to decide if Nico liked either one of them. They had argued over it. They had, maybe, just a _little_ bit bragged about it.

But Percy caught Nico at it, sometimes. Times in which he could swear they were doing it on purpose – letting their touch linger, smiling just in time to make him trip, resting their head against his shoulder just so. But they did it to Jason, too: laughed in a way that was sweet and private, laced their arm through his, whispered innuendos under their breath. 

They had wondered, Percy and Jason, if that didn’t mean none of that was actually special. If Nico wasn’t just being affectionate because they were best friends.

But they didn’t act like that with the girls – not with Hazel, or Annabeth, or Piper, or Reyna. And they _were_ very affectionate with the girls. But not in the same way.

Nico smiled, interrupting Percy’s train of thoughts, sending his insides into a wild circle act. Oh, he didn’t like that smile – he liked that smile _a bit too much._

“Why don’t I show you?” they asked, slow and sweet as honey, and coming closer. “Let’s go with alphabetical order, since you’re such jealous silly pants.”

And before Percy could begin to process what they’d said, Nico came _closer,_ turning their back on him. Baffled, speechless, Percy let them take his hands, wrap them around their waist, until they were snuggled close, chest-to-back. They let them tug him forward, two tiny steps.

Nico squeezed their joined hands, a sign for him to keep them there. Then, still smiling that _smile_ of theirs, they reached out and cupped Jason’s face.

Jason’s eyes flickered up to Percy’s, wide, a clear sign he was freaking the fuck out. He sucked in a sharp gust of air, putty under Nico’s guiding fingers. Leaned forward—

And they kissed.

Heat surged inside of Percy like a geyser going off. Jason’s insides melted. He let Nico take control of the kiss, tilt his head with their fingers, fit their lips as they wanted. He reached for them, wanting to wrap his arms around their waist, and his fingers bumped against Percy’s arm. Nico sucked on his tongue. Jason grabbed for Percy, hands closing around his forearm.

And he felt with every nerve in his body, when Percy stepped forward, squeezing Nico tighter between their bodies. They moaned softly, letting their weight fall back against Percy’s chest. Jason’s heart went ricocheting against his ribcage.

Nico pulled back from their kiss softly.

“Now,” they whispered, one hand in Jason’s face and the other laced with Percy’s. “You get what I mean?”

Percy let out a shaky sigh and buried his face in Nico’s hair. “Yeah.”

Jason simply nodded.

“Good,” Nico breathed shakily. “Cause we have two more days until the girls show up.” They twisted around to face Percy. “Think that’s enough time to teach you both how to share?”

Percy looked breathlessly up at Jason – to find him looking back with something like wonder in his eyes. Something like want. Something that tugged at his abdomen like hot needles.

“Sounds good for me,” Jason said, enunciating each word clearly, almost like a challenge.

Scratch that.

 _Exactly_ like a challenge.

Percy smirked, reaching out to hook his fingers through Jason’s belt loops, bringing him in. Nico noticed, smiling as they followed the motion with their eyes. “Play nice,” they purred, wrapping their arms around Percy’s neck.

“ _Nice_ might not be exactly the word…” he began, only to be cut off by Nico’s lips meeting his. Eyes falling close, Percy leaned into them, sighing when Jason’s fingers found their way to his hair.

Nico smiled into the kiss, smug and light and full of butterflies. They wondered how long it would take before Jason and Percy jumped one another’s bone.

By the looks of it. None at all. 


	3. Hair Around Your Shoulders

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNINGS: Discussions of transphobia and dysphoria.

Nico wasn’t feeling the party.

I mean – you’d expect him to, right? They had just saved basically the whole of Western Civilization. It was an _Olympian party._ And Nico – Nico was a _hero._ Or so everyone kept saying. Convince your dad not to be an ass, conjure an army of the undead, kill a horde of monsters: boom. Instant popularity. Who’d have thought?

But still.

Nico wasn’t feeling the party.

It was bad enough that the winning high had worn off – leaving him jittery and ready to bolt and full of unused, bottled up panic – but Nico recognized the feeling as more than that. It was something older. It was something like—

Like Bianca, finding him in the bathroom holding the scissors and yanking them from his hands in a torrent of angry Italian. “You could’ve cut off your _ears!”_ she’d fumed, dragging him by the neck, away from the mirror. “Why would you go and do that?!”

Nico hunched in on himself. She had gone white at the sight of his tears.

And then, it had been this: snapping at him to sit still already. Her hands brushing hair off his shoulders, twisting the mirror so he could look at the back, squeezing him around the middle with a laugh: “How does it look, _soldatino?"_

It had been that. Now it was back to scissors in his clumsy hands and too-long, shabby hair.

And if _that_ wasn’t bad enough – Nico thought with an angry swirl – then there was Percy.

 _Percy_ , parading around smiling like a gift sent from hell. Nico hated him. He specially hated Percy’s stupid smile – and _yes,_ he knew exactly how that sounded. He hated that too.

He hated most that he had an infinitesimal, teeny tiny, minuscule, microscopic, in all honesty pathetic chance – and he couldn’t take it.

Which was really. Wise of him. Nico supposed.

He glared some more at stupid Percy and his stupid smile, dancing with Annabeth like he hadn’t been fumbling around just five minutes ago. Now he was all loose and groovy. Having a blast. Looking gorgeous.

That _asshole._

Nico gave up. Sighing, he hopped down from the bench, and squeezed his way past the partygoers, weaving through until he found a door leading outside.

As soon as he stepped through, the party noise died a sudden death; barely a murmur reaching him, even though there was but air separating them. Nico made a low, pleased noise. That was good. There was ruckus enough inside his head.

And _yes_.

He knew exactly how that sounded.

Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Nico wandered away from the lights, heading down the twisting paths. He found himself walking past an arch of stone and into a garden. Some of it was badly damaged, blast sites from the battle still smoking, but most of it was nice. Real nice. Not like some fancy décor magazine, but more like the owner had spent a lot of time watching The Secret Garden.

Nico found his shoulders unknotting. Overgrown hedges and cascades of flowers soon engulfed him. This was much better than the party.

Ahead of him, Nico saw what looked like a tunnel, or the entrance to a groove. Feeling curious, he stepped to it and peered inside. It _was_ a tunnel: its structure made up by short, stocky trees; not that much taller than him, making the space small and cozy. Branches met up high, arching and interweaving to form the ceiling. The walls were mostly ivy. Fat red and golden flowers hung around the entrance, like neon lights announcing vacancies. Nico caught a sweet smell drifting past him; something like perfume and dew.

He wondered if the tunnel led anywhere. Curiosity prickled at his mind again, but Nico knew better: this was the tunnel to Pan’s grave all over again. He hadn’t been welcomed then. He wouldn’t be welcomed now.

So he took a step back—

“Are you enjoying my garden so far, Miss Di Angelo?”

–and shrieked like a hysterical baby bird, swinging around, arms coming up to protect his chest. Too late, he remembered he was _fully freaking dressed._ His face burned.

A stranger was standing in front of him, hands resting casually at their back, offering a disarming smile. Someone with close-cut, curly golden hair, and brown skin dark as burnt wood, and eyes the same color, with a ring of yet more golden around the iris: like their whole body was filled with light struggling to get out.

Nico’s cheeks were scalding. The stranger smiled still, gentle and easy. “Pardon me,” they said, and Nico felt his heart back flipping out of his chest. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“You didn’t startle me!” Nico squeaked, voice shrilling through the roof. He wished he could bang his head on a wall. Why did gorgeous people had to go and _talk_ to him, like – like it was no big deal! The _nerve_ of them!

The stranger smiled more widely. They had a face that would make artists weeps. And they looked young, not much older than Nico.

Why did the Fates hate him so.

“I’m glad I didn’t startle you, then,” the stranger said kindly. They glanced at the tunnel behind Nico. “I noticed you were wondering about in my garden, Miss Di Angelo. I wished to know how you were enjoying it.”

Nico’s stomach plummeted like a nuclear warhead. “Don’t call me that.”

The stranger looked back at him, their eyes a fraction wider. “Excuse me?”

“Don’t call me that,” Nico repeated, softer this time, queasy and cold and bitter. “Miss Di Angelo. Don’t call me that. Nico—” He struggled to swallow. “Nico’s fine.”

He waited. Sometimes, people objected to the nickname – not much, but sometimes.

The stranger didn’t though. His eyes were soothing, easy, the light in them so very strong and so very welcoming. “I understand,” they replied instead, voice still silky and gentle and full of honey. Their beautiful full lips slanted into a charming smile. “Well, in that case, Nico; you may call me Ganymede.”

Nico’s brain spluttered to a halt. He stared, far more than what could possibly be considered polite, blinking, trying to absorb that. His lips moved without sound. Ears ringing, cheeks burning through, shrinking inside his jacket, Nico took a stumbling step back. “Ganymede?”

“The one and only; yes,” Ganymede agreed. And he seemed amused now, like Nico’s reaction was cute instead of mortifying. “I take it you didn’t know you were in my garden?”

“Your—” Nico stumbled another step back, looking over his shoulder. “Your garden—oh! Oh, I’m so sorry!” He danced in place awkwardly. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t—I didn’t meant to—I’ll leave right away.”

He whipped around, giving his back to Ganymede, and got ready to hightail it to literally anywhere else.

“Nico!” Ganymede called, reaching out to hold him by the elbow. “Please. I didn’t mean I wished you to leave.”

“Oh,” Nico replied brilliantly, relaxing a teensy bit. “Oh. Okay. All right. But isn’t this…?”

“My garden?” Ganymede finished with a chuckle. “Yes. And I’m allowed to welcome in any guests that I choose. You may stay.”

Nico’s heart hammered in his chest. He crossed his arms firmly over its beat, pressing hard enough to hurt. The gentle lampposts that illuminated the garden made Ganymede look even more handsome. He wondered if this was a fever dream. Could he be actually passed out in some hastily made infirmary, hallucinating away on poison?

Ganymede felt real enough, though. His hand slipped away from Nico’s elbow, and he couldn’t help but track the motion, from the tip of his graceful fingers to his fine arms, to his strong shoulders showing under the classical Greek tunic. Sweet Fates.

“I didn’t mean to intrude,” Nico said quickly, trying to get his mind off the gutter. Ganymede chuckled.

“Oh, you’re not,” he assured, circling him towards the tunnel. “It’s always pleasant to have company. I’m not welcomed at the party, you understand.”

Nico blinked at him. “You’re not?” he repeated, baffled. “But… but why?”

Ganymede turned back towards him, standing in that same relaxed way, hands behind his back, hips tilted. There was so much peace in the way he moved. “Oh, you know,” he said casually. “Lady Hera wouldn’t approve.”

Nico felt like a complete idiot when he understood. He cleared his throat awkwardly. “Oh – yeah. Right.”

Ganymede twisted one eyebrow up, amused, and Nico had to drop his eyes. The god chuckled. Nico felt his fingertips begin to prickle. “It’s not so bad, my friend. I do believe I enjoy my garden better than the parties, anyhow.” He bent forward to catch Nico’s eyes, compensating for their considerable height difference. “Is that not so for you? You’re here after all.”

Nico’s pulse skyrocketed when their eyes met. He struggled to swallow. “I—Well, I—I mean—” He bit down his tongue. “It was—it was a bit noisy inside. I felt like taking a walk.”

Ganymede beamed at him, like that had been the most brilliant of responses. Nico was so screwed. “Well, then,” he said, offering Nico his arm, then gesturing to the tunnel. “Would you mind terribly much to take a walk with me?”

Nico stared at his arm. Then stared some more. He felt it quite possible his ears were smoking. “W-w-w-with you?” he managed in a squeaky voice. “B-but—I’m n-not—You wouldn’t want—”

“Nico,” Ganymede interrupted gently. “Please? I’d love your company.”

Pressing his lips tight to stop himself from blabbering, Nico reached out very slowly, keeping his eyes on Ganymede’s face. But he seemed completely at ease. Heart fluttering, face burning, Nico wrapped one arm around his, leaning on his side.

He even _smelled_ good. Fates, why.

Ganymede tugged him gently, starting towards the tunnel. Nico followed.

“Would you mind if I gave you a little tour?” He asked, tugging again so Nico would come closer.

The boy gulped. “Oh, no. Not at all. That’d be nice.”

Ganymede smiled his brilliant smile again, and smoothly began talking about flowers and gardening and designing projects. Nico didn’t know a whole lot about it, but he didn’t mind hearing him speak. The side of his body that was touching Ganymede felt on fire.

Not a bad kind of fire.

“Did you plant all of this by yourself?” Nico asked, when luminescent flowers began covering the tunnel’s walls. Ganymede reached out to pick one.

“Oh, not by myself. I had many helpers. Although, I do spend a lot of time in the garden, so most of the design is mine.”

“I like it,” Nico said on an impulse. “It’s… it’s not exactly like the rest of Olympus. Not as tidy. I think it gives it – hm, a little bit more personality.”

He waited, wondering if that had been too dull. But Ganymede, for any reason Nico couldn’t fathom, seemed delighted at every word that left his mouth. “Yes?” he asked, offering him the flower. “I’m glad.”

Nico took it, even though he had absolutely no idea what to do with it. It seemed so fragile. And he was _certainly_ not sticking it in his hair.

“Did you, ah,” Nico tried, cleaning his throat. “Did you always like gardening?”

Ganymede rested his other hand on top of Nico’s, trapping his fingers on the curve of his elbow. He struggled to pretend he hadn’t noticed. “Not gardening exactly,” the god replied. They left the tunnel, which deposited them in a sort of clearing, a gazebo in its center. “But I’ve always liked outdoors best. I was a shepherd as a human, and I still miss it sometimes. But it’s not an appropriate activity for a cup bearer – so.”

Nico considered him shyly. “Does Zeus care?”

Ganymede burst into laughter. “ _Lord Zeus?”_ He repeated, wrapping the name in fond disbelief. “Heavens, no. As if! I just prefer to avoid the gossiping, is all.”

The corners of Nico’s lip twitched. “Not a lot of people speak of Zeus that way,” he said. He loved it more than a little. Ganymede winked at him.

“Well, not a lot of people look as good as I do,” he said, bumping his hips to Nico’s. “And I don’t usually appear this young.”

That was a relief, Nico had to admit. The implications of all that youth were starting to creep him out. “Then why do you look so young now?” he asked.

Ganymede smiled devilishly at him. “Because _you_ are young.”

And Nico’s knees went putty under him.

“Shall we sit?” Ganymede offered, gesturing to the gazebo. Nico nodded; he didn’t trust his voice.

He sat down at the end of the bench, to allow space between them, but Ganymede cozied right up to him: knees touching and all. Nico would’ve protested, except he didn’t want to.

“So, huh,” he said, looking down at their pressed legs, then up at Ganymede’s face. He loomed, leaning like Nico was his center of gravity. “Did you—did you, ah, like being a sheepherder, then?”

He was aware he sucked at making small talk, but he dared anyone to be good at it with the most gorgeous man on the planet within kissing distance. Screw Adonis. And also Percy. _This_ was the one.

Ganymede smiled. Nico reminded himself not to fall off the bench.

“I did enjoy it,” Ganymede answered. “Being with the sheep meant I didn’t have to be with other people.”

Nico blinked up at him. “You didn’t like being around people?” he asked, surprised. Ganymede had seemed like the social butterfly.

The god shrugged. “Well, not exactly people – I didn’t get along so well with my family, and they limited my social contact.” He gave Nico a resigned look. “They never did get over me not being a girl.”

Nico frowned, afraid he’d heard it wrong. “Your parents wanted a daughter?”

Ganymede shrugged again, nonchalant. “I don’t know about _wanting_. But when I was born, that’s what they thought they had – when I told them I wasn’t, well…”

He let the sentence fade off, unfinished. Nico felt like maybe he should change the subject, but something in him stirred, making him shift in the bench. “Why—” he licked his lips. “Why did they think you were a girl?”

Ganymede reached out and pushed a locket of Nico’s hair behind his ear, distracted. “For the same reason anyone assumes anyone is a girl, I suppose.” He let his hand fall. “When I was born, I looked – well, like they thought a girl’s supposed to look. When I was old enough to know otherwise, I told them, but they didn’t really believe me.”

Ganymede smiled. “‘If you’re a boy, then you should do the work of a boy!’” he mimicked, in a pompous old man voice. “I bet he thought I’d come back running. But I did have a blast with the sheep. And it also got me a lot of alone time with Lord Zeus, if you don’t mind me saying.”

Nico’s heart was hammering in his chest. He gulped, lips dry, and looked down at himself, then up at Ganymede, again and again. The god picked up on his uneasy. “Nico. Is everything all right?”

“I—” He pressed his hands to his stomach, balling them up in fists. “I’m fine, I just… I just didn’t know…”

Ganymede’s expression became even more worried. He reached for Nico’s face. “What didn’t you know?”

Nico’s mouth felt impossibly dry. “I just didn’t know… that there were… that there were…”

He couldn’t make it past his lips. What if he was reading all of this wrong?

But Ganymede understood it anyway – Nico saw recognition color his expression, make the golden around his eyes more brilliant, and something snapped around his chest. “Oh, Nico,” the god said sweetly. “Are you like me?”

Air wooshed into Nico’s lungs, filling it up like it had never been there before, painfully so. Ganymede made it look so unbearably, wonderfully simple. Nico was like _him._ Nothing surprising or strange or difficult. Just something they had in common.

He breathed in again – and again and again and again. “I think so,” he whispered in the smallest voice he could conjure, and even though absolutely nothing had changed, Nico felt like he had just switched dimensions.

Ganymede touched his face with the back of his fingers. “Well, now,” he said, close enough Nico could smell his breath. “Thanks for telling me.”

Nico let out all the air he’s been hoarding. “You’re like _me_ ,” he repeated, not believing how wonderful that sounded. “I thought maybe… maybe I was the only one.”

“Oh, no,” Ganymede said, still brushing his knuckles against Nico’s cheek. “Not by far. There’s plenty of people like us.”

Nico hesitated – not sure for a moment if he believed that – but his body apparently didn’t care. Next thing he knew, he was holding Ganymede’s other hand, leaning further into him. “So that means—” He stopped to take another couple of breaths. “That means—I’m not imagining it. I’m really—”

He felt the word rushing off his mouth, as if it had been waiting for centuries to be let out:

“—a boy.”

And just like that, he burst into laughter.

“Sorry!” he hiccupped, covering his mouth with his hands. “I’m so sorry! I know it’s not funny, I just—I’m not laughing _at you_ —oh, gods.”

“No need to apologize for laughing,” Ganymede replied, kissing the hand Nico had used to grab his. “It’s a beautiful sound.”

“Oh _gods,”_ Nico giggled, half amused at the cheesiness of it, half flattered by the compliment, but fully and completely exhilarated. “I swear I’m not laughing at you—I’m just—I can’t _believe_ it, you’re like me—but—but you are—you’re _gorgeous.”_

Ganymede twisted one eyebrow at him, but otherwise took it on stride. “Well. Yes. And so are you.”

Nico couldn’t stop giggling. He shook his head. “I’m not. I look like a _girl.”_

“You look like you. And you’re a boy.” Ganymede shrugged. “Thus, you look like a boy. There isn’t a lot to it.”

Trying to stop laughing still proved too much of a challenge, so Nico gave up arguing. Hell, if Ganymede wanted to say he was gorgeous, Ganymede could say he was gorgeous. Nico didn’t even care. “Oh, so _that’s_ why you decided to talk to me,” he teased, still feeling like someone was tickling his insides. Ganymede let out a warm puff of air.

“Now, now, that isn’t fair. I’m here for the pleasure of your company.” And then he winked at Nico. “Your pretty face is just an added bonus.”

Nico laughed louder. Right in that moment, he found he could almost believe that.

“But then—then, if you were born a—then how did you _know?”_ he asked, breathless, wiping away laughter tears. “How did you tell people? How did you tell _Zeus?_ I mean, I know he likes— _”_

The ground suddenly forfeited Nico.

He stopped laughing as abruptly as he’d started. His heart plummeted. “Oh,” he whispered, in a cracked, faint voice. “Oh, but if I’m a boy, then that means—that means Percy—”

Nico bit down the words, jerking his eyes up to Ganymede guiltily. But the god seemed only worried. “Percy?” he repeated, gently, and something in him – his expression, his voice, his _everything –_ melted the embarrassment out of Nico.

“Percy Jackson,” Nico explained in a whisper. “He’s…” His voice caught in his throat; but what was one more secret to tell now? “He’s… he’s straight.”

Ganymede considered him, tilting his head to one side, then slowly, slowly, smiled again – it was _not_ the reaction Nico had been waiting for. “Oh, Nico,” the god said, amused, “not a lot of demigods is straight, to tell you the truth.”

Nico bristled at his words. “Well, _Percy_ is,” he insisted, annoyed. “I know it, all right? He—with Annabeth—listen, _everyone_ knows he’s head over fucking heels in love with her.”

“Is _she?”_ Ganymede replied, and Nico sighed, tired of talking about this.

“No, she isn’t,” he whispered. Annabeth – as he’d heard from her brothers – wasn’t into all the dating and the making out. She did love Percy, Nico wasn’t blind to it, but not in the way he did her. Not in the way he did Percy.

“Well, I’m just saying,” Ganymede said, casually, toying with Nico’s fingers. “He’d be a fool to not notice you, Nico di Angelo.”

Nico laughed, his whole arm growing hot from the contact. “Yeah?” he said, shaking his head. “Says who?”

 _“I_ do,” Ganymede replied hotly. Nico raised his head, surprised at the tone, and caught a glimpse of golden much, much closer than he’d expected, and then—

His ears exploded with noise, like bells ringing in his head. Nico hissed, gasping for air, and like water rushing through his open lips, Ganymede pressed forward, and their lips were flush together and they were—they were—

They were _kissing._

Nico’s bones melted. His eyelids slid closed. This felt so, _so_ good, so much better than he’d dared believe, and it wasn’t Percy, but he didn’t care, and it was _so—_

So—

Ganymede touched his cheek, and Nico’s heart nearly beat itself out of his ribs. He made a strangled noise under his breath, and the god chuckled, slowly letting him go. Nico never wanted the kiss to stop, but he didn’t chase it. He just kept his eyes closed.

 _“I’ve_ noticed you, Nico di Angelo,” Ganymede whispered against his lips. “And _I_ say anyone who doesn’t is a fool.”

Nico suddenly felt like he was gonna cry. “I—” he tried, struggling with his words. “I don’t—”

“Shhh, Nico,” Ganymede said, scooting forward to fit around him. “I know. It’s all right.”

Words still wouldn’t come to him, and Nico thought maybe they never would – so he sucked back his tears, raised his face, and kissed Ganymede again. The god responded at once, his lips eager and his body warm.

He didn’t know how much later Ganymede pushed him back.

“The party,” he said, answering Nico’s unspoken question. “It’s over. I think they are looking for you.”

“Oh,” Nico murmured, looking out to the path they had taken there. “Oh, then I should probably—”

He hesitated, hands still resting on Ganymede’s chest, hating to leave the circle of his arms. Dipping his head, Nico mumbled into the god’s collarbone: “Am I ever gonna…?”

“See me again?” Ganymede finished when he trailed off. Nico’s cheeks burned. He nodded. “You can come anytime, Nico. Any time at all. Please.”

Heart doing cartwheels in his chest, Nico nodded harder.

They went back the way they’d come, fingers intertwined, shoulders brushing, not talking. Nico was afraid of what his emotions were doing. Was this like every first kiss was supposed to feel?

Well, maybe not, Nico mused – but not everyone had spent years terrified the first person they kissed would think they were the wrong gender.

Ganymede guided him around the palace to the front yard, where a bunch of campers had already gathered, yawning and dozing in their friends’ shoulders. Nico stopped, trying to find something to tell Ganymede, some way to thank him, but before he could even turn around—

“Nico!” Percy called, suddenly breaking from the crowd, sweaty and handsome and harried. “ _There_ you are! Where did you run off to? We’ve been looking for you…” He trailed off, spotting Ganymede behind Nico’s shoulder, and loosing track of his sentence. “Hum… hi?”

“Hello, Percy Jackson,” Ganymede replied, letting go of Nico’s hand and stepping around him. “Do forgive me for keeping Nico for so long. I was enjoying his company so much, you see, we lost track of time.”

Nico felt suddenly, ferociously thankful Percy couldn’t understand innuendos. The boy hesitated, looking between the two of them with a questioning look. “Huh… all right. No problem. But you are…?”

Ganymede smiled, a grin that looked almost dangerous, and that suddenly made him look older – older than Nico, older than Percy, actually. “Now, that’s for me to know and for you to find out,” he told Percy, his voice a seductive roll. As Nico watched, baffled, Ganymede leaned forward, getting all up in Percy’s personal space. “And wouldn’t you like to know, sugar?”

And Percy—

Nico stared at him, slack-jawed, eyes huge, obsessively wondering if he’d drunk too much, ‘cause Percy—Percy was _blushing,_ and stuttering, and trying too hard and too unsuccessfully not to stare at Ganymede’s lips.

The god caught Nico’s eyes, a playful glint to his gaze, and winked at him. “If you’ll excuse me,” he said to no one in particular, straightening up again. Nico followed his movements still gaping, even as realization dawned upon him.

Ganymede left him with a secret smile and a last touch to his arm.

Percy whimpered.

Nico whipped around at the sound, meeting Percy’s eyes even as they filled with horror. The boy stared at him, red flaming in his cheeks, dread filling his expression. He stared after Ganymede’s back, then looked imploringly down at Nico. “Please don’t tell anyone,” he asked in a faint whisper.

Nico felt the slight urge to strangle Ganymede, and kiss him at the same time. Slowly, mouth still hanging open, he shook his head. “No,” he told Percy softly. “Of course not.”

Percy relaxed all at once, shoulders sagging, muscles unknotting. “Thanks, man,” he breathed out meaningfully. “It’s not—it’s not that I’m embarrassed about it, I just don’t want—”

“I know,” Nico interrupted, surprised at the calm in his voice. He took a deep breath. “I won’t tell anyone, Percy. I promise.”

And the look that _asshole_ gave him—Nico curled his hands in fists inside his pockets. He could still feel Ganymede’s lips on him, and part of him longed: for how good it had felt, how safe, how very, very easy—and yet another part of him still only wanted Percy, only Percy, and now that part of him was surging up like a tornado, like falling off a ledge, because—

Because maybe he didn’t have to choose. Maybe he got to be a boy _and_ to kiss the boy he wanted.

Maybe the boy he wanted—

Nico didn’t have the strength to voice that thought, not even inside his own head. Not yet. Maybe not even for a long time. His hair still fell around his shoulders and it still felt like a battle to even say his name out loud, but Percy had looked at Ganymede like he was weak in the knees and Nico was _like_ Ganymede.

Couldn’t it mean—that maybe, one day?

“Let’s get going?” Nico asked Percy, gesturing to their departing friends.

“Ah – all right,” Percy agreed, falling into step next to him as they rejoined the group.

Maybe. One day.


End file.
